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Bursting out of the realm of speculation and into confirmed game releases, Disney Infinity — an “ambitious gaming initiative” — is set to be unveiled on January 15, 2013.

In November I hypothesized that Disney Infinity could steal a significant slice of Activision/Blizzard’s Skylanders pie — but at the time Disney Infinity was firmly labeled as a rumor. Fan site Stitch Kingdom had published an article describing in detail an educational retailer video for the game. Literally hours after it went live the post was seemingly yanked, resulting in a 404.

Based on the alleged video, it was then widely reported across the gaming press that Disney Infinity would utilize “plastic tokens” to facilitate communication between physical Pixar and Disney characters and a game world, much like the hugely successful Skylanders. Queries to Disney PR went unanswered, but today press invitations began populating media inboxes.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, (and the primary force behind “Toy Story”) is set to make an appearance at the event alongside the co-president of Disney Interactive, John Pleasants. This is certainly a clue that both Pixar and Disney universes will figure prominently in the multiplatform game.

Speaking of John Pleasants, the original New York Times interview (October 2012) fueling the Disney Infinity rumor (then code-named “Toy Box”) found Pleasants saying the company was developing an “ambitious and unannounced gaming initiative.” The purported retailer video obtained by Stitch Kingdom described starter packs (presumably figurines) with characters like Mr. Incredible and Jack Sparrow.

Of course, Disney’s recent acquisition of LucasFilm LTD. makes the possibilities for Disney Infinity much more enticing. Imagine a sprawling Skylanders-esque game featuring characters and environments from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Toy Story, iconic fairy tale films, and the multitude of properties in their creative stable.

The game will allegedly be released for current-generation platforms like Nintendo‘s 3DS and Wii U, Sony‘s PlayStation 3, and Microsoft‘s Xbox 360. I expect releases for PC and Apple iOS as well — and Disney Interactive could dazzle us with cross-platform gameplay and save syncing. We’ll have concrete details in January, but in the meantime: When is Nintendo going to ride this deliciously evil movement with their Pokemon franchise?

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